Pacquiao Wants 3 More Fights Before Retiring
Pummeling Antonio Margarito to win $20 million seems to have put Manny Pacquiao in mind of more ring glory and riches. Two days after his win he declared that he would like three more fights before retiring.
Trainer Freddie Roach said Pacquiao stuck to the game plan.
“I told him to box him, beat him down the middle all night long,” Roach said. “The jab worked perfectly. The straight left hand landed well, too. If he had stayed on the body he would have stopped him. Body shots were taking its toll.
“We worked on going to the ropes and sometimes he stayed there a little too long.”
Saturday’s win over Margarito was Pacquiao’s 13th consecutive win since losing to Erik Morales in March 2005. Fight fans would like one of his three remaining fights to be Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has personally called Mayweather out for talking loudly but failing to come to terms.
“Mayweather has to put up or shut up now or move out of the country,” Roach said. “Let’s face it. Manny is way above him at this point, because I remember when he was ducking Margarito and he wouldn’t fight him either. If he doesn’t fight Manny now [Mayweather] should retire.”
Along with his title as the new World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao earned a guaranteed $15 million fight purse and another $5 million from his share of pay-per-view (PPV) proceeds for last Saturday’s fight in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
The winnings will likely move Pacquiao further up Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest athletes from the 8th place he occupied in July, just behind Miami Heat’s LeBron James.
MANILA, Philippines
Pacquiao wears the championship belt after winning the WBC light middleweight title match. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)